diary of a young indian artist: 2009

Friday, January 30, 2009

ASHTANAYIKA the messengers of love

OM BHUR BHUVA SVAHA
4ft * 4ft mixed media on stainless steel

VASAKA SAJIKA
4ft mixed media on stainless steel

THE LESBIAN
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

THE PROSTITUTE
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

TWIN 1
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

TWIN 2
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

SISTER 2
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

ARIES
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

RAZOR HEAD
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

SISTER 1
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

BLOCK HEAD
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

HAIR RAISER
10" x 10" mixed media on stainless steel

WORKING WITH STAINLESS STEEL

My maiden journey with stainless steel has ended in Steel Wonderland. In the past months I have taken a path of discovery + experimentation that was born from my initial frustration with Stainless Steel – an industrial product.

To me, Stainless steel was an indestructible shiny material that – in my studio – could not be colored, cut, printed, glued, molded, sculpted or crafted without losing its form, function and beauty.

Outside, in the factories & workshops of India, creating art with Stainless Steel is still a very experimental, time consuming & an expensive affair.

I am a mixed media collage artist. I like to work with my hands and do mostly everything myself. I use projectors, video graphics, cameras, glass paints, holographic papers, X-acto knives and my Macbook Pro to fill and completely cover my canvas with color, images & all sorts of hidden messages.

My challenge - to work with what I knew and what is new - Stainless steel.

My discovery of traditional double-edged safety razor blade marked the beginning of my adventure with steel. Then, molecular structures, chemical compositions, perfect reflections, minor imperfections & visual distortions became my definition of stainless steel … and a bit like life.

Since, I have obsessed about creating collages of colorful worlds with a material that is essentially one color.

Reflections have been my 2nd obsession. Playing with diversity – steel, light, plastic, paint and paper – to mirror reality with reflections of you within my collage has been exciting. Instead of covering the canvas, I have had to uncover the steel and its mirror effect. I have had to work in reverse.

I hope you enjoy my work and have fun discovering the hidden messages.

S. Ayesha

ME AND MY WORK-ARTIST STATEMENT

☺ Hi everyone

My name is Ayesha – daughter of Chetan, Shammi, Manya & sister to Ameeta, Ambika & Kail. I have studied & lived in Europe & America and now live in Delhi. I am single, in love and discovering the many different sides to myself as I enter into new, deep, adult relationships with my family and friends in India.

My adventure as an artist is just beginning. My first exhibitions were based on dyslexia – a learning disability that affects 1/10 children worldwide, including myself. The exhibition invited the non-dyslexic person into my world to experience - 1st hand - what dyslexia is. So, I used time, language, math & colour to create a world where clocks are upside down, alphabets are reversed, right can’t be told from left and numbers form beautiful geometric patterns.

I am not a painter. I am a graphic artist. I like to experiment. I like to play. I like to disregard rules (especially social rules). I like hidden messages. I like big. I like to cut paper and deconstruct materials which I use to reconstruct ideas and art. I like to colour manically, it soothes me. I like pens, not paint. I like to stand in front of projectors. I like junk. I love to create chaos. I use lines and symmetry to give order. I add patterns for movement. I like to use icons that inspire me.

I like to use lots of new media and technologies - Xrays, Photoshop, fractals, digital photographs, projectors, commercial packaging, internet, transparencies with glass paint, reflective materials, holographic paper, handmade paper, acrylic plexiglass. With these materials, I create large collages of all the crazy & beautiful experiences in my life.

These works titled under the banner of – DIFFERENT FACES OF S.Ayesha, is a continuation to a solo show that was held in New Delhi in May 2007. The content of the work – is about me – my feelings, dreams, ideas, fantasies and experiences that I have had. Like a personal diary, my work reflects the different aspects of my life and the different faces I carry. In essence, these are all self portraits.

I hope you like my work. Feel free to drop me a comment enjoy yourselves. Thank you for viewing.

S. Ayesha ☺